LinkedIn turns to games and AI to attract and retain users

As the professional social network looks to compete with other social media sites for users’ eyeballs, and the ad dollars that come with it, it is incorporating new attention grabbing features like AI and puzzles. 

The Microsoft-owned social network recently added daily games, which allow its professional users flex their intellect and compare scores with their network. The company has also added a series of AI implementations that touch everything from a users’ profile to posts.

The goal of the new features is to bring users’ to the social media site more often, and to keep them around once they’re there, said LinkedIn editor-in-chief Daniel Roth.

“It’s about building this daily habit,” Roth told the Financial Times. “Once you’re on LinkedIn, it’s time to share your knowledge, get knowledge, get information and get content.” 

Among the new puzzles is Queens, a game that involves strategically placing crowns so that only one appears per row and column. Another, Pinpoint, challenges a user to identify the common category for a series of related words. The games are relatively simple to play but challenge users who want to take “a quick brain break,” Roth told Fortune.  In addition to letting users post their scores publicly, LinkedIn also tracks how often you play to encourage users to keep up a daily streak.

“We’re already seeing how these games spark conversations, connections, and even a healthy bit of competition among professionals around the world,” Roth told Fortune in an email.

The strategy of using games to try to build engagement is a gamble that expands the company’s original vision of being a social network for professionals. But far from untested,  the approach has worked for other media businesses, including the New York Times, which saw 10 million downloads for its dedicated NYT Games app in 2023.

For its part, LinkedIn said it had seen record engagement of 1.5 million content interactions per minute in June, the FT reported. Still, last year the company laid off more than 5% of its 20,000 employees as it recorded slower year-over-year revenue growth for eight consecutive quarters.

Its ChatGPT-backed AI additions, which the company started rolling out to premium subscribers late last year, are meant to provide a personal touch for professionals. The company has added features such as “Collaborative Articles,” which helps compile users’ thoughts on varied business subjects accompanied by an AI-produced summary. The company also introduced AI tools to help recruiters craft messages to potential hires.

While some users have complained about its AI suggestions being too “robotic,” Roth said the enhancements have helped increase its premium subscribers by 25% year-over-year. 

“In order to help professionals and companies thrive during these fast-changing times, we’ve been rolling out our own AI-powered enhancements, each designed to enable you to meet your aspirations by becoming more productive and successful,” Roth said in an email to Fortune.

CEO Daily provides key context for the news leaders need to know from across the world of business. Every weekday morning, more than 125,000 readers trust CEO Daily for insights about–and from inside–the C-suite. Subscribe Now.